It has been known for a long time that plants belonging to the family of cruciferae contain substances acting on the growth of tumoral cells, and whose administration thus reduces the effects of cancer onto the human body.
The anti-carcinogenic properties of these plants have been found both through epidemiological evidence and by means of tests carried out on animals. Such anti-carcinogenic properties can be attributed to the presence of nutritive and non-nutritive constituents such as indole glucosinates, which are known as inhibitors of the carcinogenic process.
Indole-3-carbinol is a product deriving from the spontaneous hydrolysis of the indole glucosinate gluco-brassicin contained in plants belonging to the family of Cruciferae. Indole-3-carbinol is supposed to be an inhibitor both of breast cancer induced in rats by dimethylbenzanthracene and of stomach cancer induced by benzo(a)pyrene. Once formed, Indole-3-carbinol under-goes further photoinduced transformations with formation of polymeric degradation products.
Some of such polymeric products and their preparation are reported in the article “Oligomerization of Indole-3-carbinol in aqueous acid” by GROSE, Karl et al. in CHEMICAL RESEARCH IN TOXICOLOGY; ISSN 0893-228X, vol. 5, no. 2, 1992, pages 188-193; biological activity of the trimeric product is reported in the article “The major cyclic trimeric product of Indole-3-cabinol is a strong agonist of the estrogen receptor signalling pathway” by RIBY J et al. in BIOCHEMISTRY, Americam Chemical Society, Easton, Pa., US, vol. 39, no. 5, 2000, pages 910-918.
The authors of the present invention have unexpectedly and surprisingly found that a tetramerous derivative of indole-3-carbinol has a high anti-carcinogenic activity. In particular, it has been found that the anti-carcinogenic activity of the tetramerous derivative develops independently from the presence of estrogen receptors in tumoral cells.